Annabelle de St. MauriceThe Washington University campus has been plagued by a string of criminal vehicle ‘tampering’ since the start of the school year. These incidents range from the removal of the registration tabs on licence plates to theft from the vehicles and even the theft of the vehicles themselves. Two cars have been stolen from campus this semester.
According to WU police chief Don Strom, “There have been about five to 10 more incidents of tampering, compared to the same period last year.” However, Strom stresses that there is no need for students to panic, saying that, “for the number of cars we have in our lots at any given time, we have a comparatively low number of incidents of tampering.”
Even though the number of incidents has risen in the last 30 days, it is still roughly proportional to the crimes city-wide, which have also seen an increase.
Strom also points out that “it’s normal for the numbers to vary widely from month to month, but they tend to remain steady from year to year.”
In some cases, incidents of tampering are related to an incident of car theft. Strom notes, “There was a case where someone had gone through several cars, looking for keys, and when they found a set, they took that vehicle.”
When reported, such events appear to be four separate instances of tampering, when the crimes are in fact part of a single auto theft. Despite this skewing of data, statistics show that tampering is actually set to decline for the second straight year.
According to Strom, it is also often difficult to tell when the crimes are taking place.
“Often, in the case of stolen [registration] tabs, the student won’t notice until they are at school, and they aren’t sure when the tabs were stolen,” said Strom.
This makes it difficult for the department to do accurate trend analysis and determine if the number of on-campus incidents is actually increasing.
Despite the difficulty of identifying trends, WU police have increased the number of foot patrols in the parking areas, with the hope of deterring would-be criminals. Lisa Underwood, manager of parking and transportation, also notes that, “we have tried to increase the number of personnel in the parking areas,” stating that, “we hope to deter crime by being a presence in the area.”
The larger numbers of personnel and the increased foot patrols have led to progress in the investigation of the incidents. Strom reports, “We arrested some juveniles who were involved in the break-ins, and we also arrested an adult in connection with one of the auto thefts.”
Preventative solutions can be expensive and have mixed results. Strom points out that, in many cases, “A preventative campaign of ‘lock your doors,’ can have a very limited effect.” A more active measure, such as security cameras, can have a prohibitive cost. Strom said, “You need a very large number of cameras, as well as someone monitoring them to respond to what’s occurring, for them to have value as a preventative tool.”
Strom encourages students and faculty members parking their vehicles on campus to properly secure their belongings.
“Be aware of the valuables in your vehicle; try to be sure that you don’t make your car attractive for potential thieves,” he said.
Strom further encourages students to report suspicious people, or people who are acting suspiciously, pointing out that this can be a great help to the police in preventing crime. He notes that this can help students to feel secure leaving their cars in campus lots.
Underwood concurred. “We want people to feel safe parking their cars on campus,” she said.